British & Irish Lions rugby tour set to sell out

British & Irish Lions players Josh Lewsey and Matt Dawson after their loss to the All Blacks after the 3rd and final Test match, held at Eden Park in 2005. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Ticket sales for the most anticipated rugby tour in years kick off at noon today with some tests predicted to sell out within hours.

The 2017 British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand is expected to be one of the country's biggest events since the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This is the Lion's first tour to the country since 2005.

General sale tickets for all seven non-Test matches are available.

Lions fan at the third and final test in the DHL New Zealand Lions Series played between the All Blacks and the British in 2005. Photo / Dean Purcell

The series gets underway in Whangarei on June 3 2017 and culminates in Auckland on July 8 when the All Blacks play the third and final test against the touring side. They will play 10 matches across seven cities from Whangarei to Dunedin.

Test match tickets range in price from $149 to $449. Matches involving the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians, Super Rugby teams and Maori All Blacks range from $39 to $129.

The Maori All Blacks play the British & Irish Lions in Rotorua on June 17.

Children's tickets start at $10 for the Barbarians match and $29 for the other non-Test matches.

The following will apply to matches involving the All Blacks.

Category A - $449.00
Category B - $379.00
Category C - $249.00
D/GA - $149.00

With demand far outweighing availability, tickets to the the three All Blacks v The British & Irish Lions Tests will be done through a ballot system which will be drawn in mid-November.

There is a maximum of four tickets per person and they will only be accessible for those living in New Zealand.

There will be a total of 350,000 tickets on sale, with 250,000 available via the general public ticket process. More than 20,000 Lions fans are expected to descend on New Zealand during the series.

Tickets can be found here.